Efter ett lyckat ihopp i säsongsfinalen av TCR Europa förra året där britten Ashley Sutton slutade trea för WestCoast Racing har teamet från Halmstad beslutat sig för en satsning på TCR Europa för 2019.

WestCoast Racing kommer att köra hela säsongen i TCR Europa 2019 med två stycken Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Tidigare Formel 1-föraren och erfarna standvagnsföraren Gianni Morbidelli återvänder till WestCoast Racing med vilka han tävlade för i TCR International. Som teamkamrat får han den lovande finländaren Olli Kangas som tävlat i TCR i såväl Sverige som England, Tyskland och Europaserien.

WestCoast Racings teamchef Dick Jönsson Wigroth är glad att ha ytterligare ett ambitiöst racingprogram för året klart. Sedan tidigare är det klart att teamet ställer upp i Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia med minst en bil.
– Ännu ett fullspäckat racingår väntar oss i teamet och jag är väldigt glad att vi fått till stånd en satsning med två bilar i TCR Europa, säger Dick. TCR Europa är ett av de mest konkurrenskraftiga TCR-mästerskap idag och det blir en inspirerande utmaning att mäta oss mot det motståndet. Vi hade ett bra inhopp i finalen ifjol och ser fram emot att nu köra en full säsong. Det känns väldigt tryggt att vi har Gianni Morbidelli tillbaka hos oss. Vi trivs väldigt bra med honom i teamet, det är ingen tvekan att han fortfarande är motiverad och hans erfarenhet är enorm. Vi är också väldigt glada att välkomna Olli Kangas till WestCoast Racing. Vi har sett honom på nära håll i flera TCR-serier och vi hoppas ge honom alla förutsättningar för en stark säsong i TCR Europa.

Gianni Morbidelli:
– Jag är självklart väldigt glad att återvända till WestCoast Racing. Jag körde för dem i tre år med väldigt bra minnen från den tiden. Det ska bli ett nöje att få köra Volkswagen Golf GTI i ett så konkurrenskraftigt mästerskap som TCR Europa. Jag är tacksam för möjligheten som jag fått av Dick Jönsson Wigroth och James Rogers Nixon. Det är alltid trevligt att arbeta med personer jag respekterar och anser vara väldigt goda vänner.

Olli Kangas:
– Efter några säsonger i STCC är jag väldigt glad att nu köra för WestCoast Racing i TCR Europa. Banorna i det här mästerskapet är väldigt annorlunda men det blir kul att lära mig dem. Jag ser fram emo tatt arbeta ihop med ett så bra team som WestCoast Racing och jag hoppas kunna lära mig mycket från min teamkamrat Gianni. Ingen av oss är med bara för att delta.

TCR Europa kommer 2019 avgöras över 7 tävlingshelger med start på Hungaroring i Ungern 27-28 april och med säsongsfinalen på Monza i Italien 12-13 oktober. Mer information på officiella hemsidan http://europe.tcr-series.com/.

Tävlingskalender – TCR Europa Series 2019

27-28 april – Hungaroring, Ungern
24-26 maj – Hockenheim, Tyskland
8-9 juni – Spa, Belgien
13-14 juli – Red Bull Ring, Österrike
3-4 augusti – Oschersleben, Tyskland
21-22 september – Barcelona, Spanien
12-13 oktober – Monza, Italien

WestCoast Racing enters TCR Europe for 2019 with two Volkswagen Golf GTI for Gianni Morbidelli and Olli Kangas.

The Swedish-based touring car team entered the final round of the series last year where Brit Ashley Sutton took third position. That ignited plans for a full season assault on the championship for 2019. After a lot of hard work during the winter WestCoast Racing can confirm two cars for this year’s championship.

Ex F1- and Touringcar expert Gianni Morbidelli returns to the team which he raced for in TCR International and he will be joined by the young Finnish racer Olli Kangas with a background of TCR in Sweden, UK and Germany, Including victory on the infamous Nordshlieffe

WestCoast Racing Team Principal Dick Jönsson Wigroth is pleased to add a full season in TCR Europe to the teams schedule alongside the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavian series.
” Another challenging and busy racing year awaits us”, Dick says.” I am very happy we are able to confirm two cars for TCR Europe in 2019 and very happy that we will see Gianni Morbidelli return to us. Aside from his vast experience he is as more motivated than ever and we enjoy working with him both on and off the track. I am also excited to welcome Olli Kangas to the team, we have followed him over the past couple of years and believe he can deliver a few surprises and we aim to give him the best chance to show what he can do. TCR Europe is one of the most competitive TCR-championships around at the moment and we are looking forward to take on the competition for 2019.”

Gianni Morbidelli says : ”Obviously I’m really happy to return to WestCoast Racing. I spent three years with them from 2015 with great memories. It’s a big pleasure to get to drive the Volkswagen Golf GTI  in a such competitive championship as TCR Europe. I’m grateful to Dick Jönsson Wigroth and James Rogers Nixon for the opportunity they give me, it’s always a pleasure to work with people I respect and consider to be good friends.”

Olli Kangas says : ”After a couple of seasons in STCC  I’m delighted to join WestCoast Racing and TCR Europe. The tracks are very different in this championship but tracks which will be a lot of fun to learn. I’m very excited to work together with such a knowledgeable team and I’m hoping to learn quickly from my new team mate Gianni. None of us are here to make up the numbers.”

TCR Europe is held over seven race weekends in 2019 starting in Hungary 27-28th of April with the season finale at Monza in Italy in October. For full line ups and more information, visit http://europe.tcr-series.com/.

Race schedule – TCR Europa Series 2019

April 27-28  – Hungaroring, Hungary
May 24-26  – Hockenheim, Germany
June 8-9  – Spa, Belgium
July 13-14 – Red Bull Ring, Austria
August 3-4  – Oschersleben, Germany
September 21-22 – Barcelona, Spain
October 12-13  – Monza, Italy

A long and race-packed season has come to an end for WestCoast Racing with a podium finish in the TCR Europe finale in Barcelona this weekend.

After having wrapped up the drivers and team title in TCR UK on top of a full season in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship WestCoast Racing brought its three Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR to Barcelona for an appearance in the TCR Europe finale. Joining the teams’ two ordinary drivers Andreas och Jessica Bäckman for this weekend was 2017 BTCC Champion Ashley Sutton. This was Suttons first international TCR race outside UK and the first appearance in the Volkswagen as well as at the Catalunya circuit. He quickly came to terms and followed up a fourth place in the first race with a podium finish in the second race finishing third.
”I played it a bit safe in the first race as this is a new championship for me”, Ashley says. We just wanted to bring it home but for the second race we changed our plan of attack and pushed on. It’s my first international race and there have been a lot of things to get used to but even though we had less tyres and had a heavier car it was a strong weekend. I’m obviously very satisfied with the experience and the weekend. The car has been mega and WestCoast has made me feel at home so it’s fantastic.”

For team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth this was the end of a long season where the team has been racing full programmes in both Scandinavia and UK and finishing it off with the appearance in TCR Europe. In addition to Ashley Sutton scoring a podium he also saw Andreas and Jessica Bäckman finishing off a strong rookie season in car racing with a 12th and 13th and 14th and 15th position respectively from the two races.
”It’s been a challenging season for the team with so many races but I’m very happy how faultless they have been”, Dick says. ”It feels very good to be able to finish the season with a podium finish here in Barcelona. We enjoyed our weekend in TCR Europe and it answered a lot of questions for us regarding next year. It was also great to work with Ashley, he quickly adjusted to the team and was very professional which helped us get a lot out of this weekend so a big thanks to Ashley. I also want to mention Andreas and Jessica, it’s easy to forget they are doing their rookie season in car racing this year but they go from strength to strength and as always developed and improved throughout the weekend. This was a good end to a very busy season for us and we now look to next year and our plans for where to race in 2019.”

Results from the TCR Europe weekend in Barcelona can be found here:

http://europe.tcr-series.com/index.php/events/item/circuit-de-barcelona-catalunya

WestCoast Racing enters the final raceweekend in TCR Europe at Barcelona where 2017 BTCC-champion and current BTCC race winner Ashley Sutton joins the team. He will be racing one of three cars WestCoast Racing enters for the final round this year with Andreas and Jessica Bäckman racing the other two cars for the team.

The final raceweekend of the European TCR championship is held in Barcelona at Circuit de Catalunya this weekend and WestCoast Racing will take the opportunity to enter with three cars after having clinched the drivers championship in TCR UK this past weekend. Andreas and Jessica Bäckman will be joined by 2017 BTCC champion Ashley Sutton. WestCoast Racing team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth explains the team is exploring where to race in 2019 after having run parallell programmes in TCR Scandinavia and TCR UK this year.
”We are considering our options for next year and this was a perfect opportunity for us to get a first taste of TCR Europe”, Dick explains. ”It is especially motivating to be able to work wtih Ashley Sutton for this raceweekend and he will give us a very good indication of how competitive we can be in TCR Europe and a great opportunity for us to finish off this season strongly. At this moment this is just a one-off but TCR Europe is one of several championships we are considering for next year”.

Ashley Sutton is an established Touringcar-star having won BTCC in 2017 and multiple race wins in BTCC this year. He finished fourth in BTCC this year with six race victories and also joined TCR UK for one race weekend where he won two races.
”I am very excited to be competing in the last round of the TCR Europe with WestCoast Racing”, Ashley says. ”I have been keeping my eye on TCR full stop and I’ve been very keen on dipping my toe in the water. I managed to get a taste of TCR UK but I haven’t raced TCR internationally so when I was approached by WestCoast it was the perfect opportunity to do this as it favoured both parties. I’m looking forward to see whats in store this weekend, I haven’t yet driven the Volkswagen Golf GTI and have only done a handful of laps around Catalunya itself. So we will be entering the unknown and be taking it as it comes. The team have just come off the back of wrapping up the UK Championship so they are in a good place and I would like to continue that this weekend”